HOW WILL SCHEIN’S UNDERLYING ASSUMPTIONS BE DIFFERENT FOR ‘HOST

COUNTRY NATIONAL’ MANAGERS IN BELGIUM AND UAE

Introduction

Successful organizations are derived from a culture with deep rooted beliefs backed with policy
and structure. Organizations having a corporate culture tend to have employees who know what
is expected out of them, how do they have to respond to organizational needs and how much
will their act of demonstrating organizational culture will be valued [ CITATION SHR17 \l 1033 ]. HR
has a pivot role to play in exhibiting and reinforcing the organizational values and culture across
the organization through its role in planning and policy formulation, staffing, operations, training
and development etc. Through incentives like rewards and recognitions, HR can work for
strengthening the emphasis on importance of organizational culture.

Prevailing cultures and geographical norms also play a role in sketching organizational culture,
thus if we study cultures of different organizations in specific countries, we will observe how
there are certain similar norms and values in organizational cultures of different firms both local
and multinational for that specific country [ CITATION DRa06 \l 1033 ]. For instance, if we evaluate
organizational culture of different firms in Saudi Arabia, we will observe that all the firms have
certain dress code, behavioral standards and protocols to be followed and attitudes that will be
similar countrywide. Similarly, in a country like Belgium, there is an organizational culture with
strong sense of respecting hierarchy and abiding by the rules without arguments [ CITATION
Nun18 \l 1033 ].

Different theories and models on organizational culture have been devised and are being used
by businesses to inculcate their unique identity and instill an exclusive culture in the
organizations. Edgar Schein has developed one such model of organizational culture with three
classified cultural levels including the most observable artifacts followed by norms or values and
going all the way to underlying assumptions which are the deepest level.

This paper will look into the Schein’s model of organizational culture and how will the underlying
assumptions of the model be different for host country national managers in the UAE and
Belgium.

Schein’s Model of Organizational Culture

Edgar Schein in 1985 proposed a model for Organizational Culture [ CITATION EHS04 \l 1033 ]
according to which there are three distinct levels of organizational culture;

a. Artifacts
b. Norms and Values
c. Underlying Assumptions

Artifacts are the first level visible signs of culture in the organization. Being observable
manifestations, they symbolize most accessible factors of culture through physical and
behavioral patterns, stories and traditions, technology and art, basic rules and policies, display
and interior through the organization which tells about the feel of organization. However, these
artifacts are not tailor-made and require an understanding beyond the surface.

Values and norms in organizational culture model are the second level to understand culture.
They are more cognizant signs and require a secondary level understanding for identifying
norms and values as they cannot be observed apparently. They are defining factors for
desirable from undesirable in organization, however they are not in a fixed pattern thus cannot
be easily comprehended.

Underlying assumptions are the deepest level of beliefs and understanding culture which are
neither written nor exhibited. Forming core of organizational culture, they cannot be challenged
because they reveal the basic aura of organization.

As per Schein, members of the organization stay firm to values and norms because their
underlying assumptions actually cultivate and sustain the norms. He gave six assumptions
about reality, truth, time, space, human nature and relationships that form a pattern in
organizational culture [ CITATION EHS04 \l 1033 ].

Since the scope of this paper is studying these underlying assumptions on the host country
national managers in Belgium and UAE, therefore we will look into the organizational culture of
these countries for a better understanding of the case.

Organizational Culture in Belgium

Belgium is a country with people who are hard working and have a strong sense of hierarchy.
They are honest in their work but reserved in nature which makes it tricky for a foreign manager
to adjust to, initially. This nature of being reserved is balanced out with their pragmatic approach
and extraordinary street-smartness. Having a polite nature, they are generally amiable except
for where it is a need of their corporate leadership ladder to exhibit versatile personality traits to
ace their role [ CITATION Bus \l 1033 ].

Keeping a formal superior and subordinate relationship, they do give value to true leadership,
rank and competence, functional roles in organization and size and outlook of the corporate. For
Belgians, reaching a mutual point of agreement is far more significant than winning a debate,
thus, their pragmatic approach is still led by the final word of the supreme authority [ CITATION
Exp20 \l 1033 ]. They take time, space and human element very seriously and thus their general
culture impacts the culture of the organizations.

Organizational Culture in UAE

UAE is a country with people from diverse backgrounds. Having mostly expatriate workforce,
the organizational culture shows hints of diversity. The country itself holds its values and norms
significantly yet the work culture in all its formality still gives a room to adjust the expats in the
workforce and culture is derived with a balance of formal and casual outlook. Since the
businesses are going global, UAE is becoming a hub for many organizations thus MNCs are
setting up their corporate offices in the UAE [ CITATION Ras16 \l 1033 ].
The businesses are usually owned by major families of Arabs and thus the key positions are
held by them leading to strong hierarchical structures with closely knitted teams, downward
communication and formal organizational structures and stratified business culture [ CITATION
Exp201 \l 1033 ].

Comparative Analysis of Schein’s Underlying Assumptions for Host Country National

reality, truth, time, space, human nature and relationships

Schein’s underlying assumptions of organizational culture form the paradigm of organizations

a. Reality

Hofstede, G. (2001). Culture’s consequences. Comparing values, behaviors, institutions and

Conclusion

https://thehypertextual.com/2013/01/17/edgar-schein-organizational-culture-and-leadership/

https://www.academia.edu/23824961/Evaluating_the_Schein_Model_by_Analyzing_Changes_t
o_Organizational_Culture

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/267220464_Organizational_Culture_Applying_A_Hybr
id_Model_to_the_US_Army_Organizational_Culture_A_Hybrid_Model

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